ROCHESTER — The Rochester Police Department said as of early Wednesday morning, two 15-year-old girls reported missing by their parents had been found and safely returned to home.

“The case is resolved and everyone is safe,” Sgt Eric Babine wrote in an email to Foster’s at 3:34 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The two teen girls had last been heard from by their families at the start of winter break from Spaulding High School. The parents of the two friends said they were greatly concerned for their children’s well-being when they were still missing on Tuesday, New Year’s Day.

Rochester resident Suzanne Anderson said she last heard from her daughter, Ashley Taylor Anderson, on Dec. 20 after she went out with her friend, Natasha Kuchman. Ashley is a freshman at Spaulding High and Natasha is a sophomore.

Natasha’s father, Joe, said he believed his daughter sneaked out to meet Ashley and the two were hiding out somewhere together. Both parents contacted Foster’s on Tuesday, imploring the public’s assistance to help keep their daughters safe.

Tuesday morning, Babine said the case was still “open” and he could not comment further on the juvenile matter. Several hours later, he contacted Foster’s to report the missing juveniles were found.

A representative for the police department could not be reached immediately on Wednesday for further comment on the case and Suzanne Anderson did not return a call for comment.

The responsibility of responding to juvenile cases has been placed more substantially on local communities and their police departments in the last few months, since the previous Republican-led House of Representatives eliminated funding for the Children in Need of Services (CHINS) program in 2011. Where the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) previously assisted about 1,000 minors every year through CHINS petitions, with court judges ordering specific services to assist troubled youths and their guardians, a much more narrowed definition of what constitutes a child in need now allows for approximately 50 children to be assisted every year.

Foster’s previously reported several lawmakers and local officials are calling for a change in the system. Rochester Superintendent Michael Hopkins reported the district is concerned about keeping up with the changes, stating more children will have severe problems before they even get referred to the legal process, and the Dover Police Department told Foster’s they used to refer struggling families, especially those involved in runaway cases, to enter into the CHINS program.

Rochester School Board member Julie Brown, a previous Republican representative in the house for 12 consecutive terms, recently called on her colleagues to send a letter to Gov.-Elect Maggie Hassan urging her to consider more funding for the CHINS program in the next budget cycle, to assist troubled youths as well as their parents who need support.